Pilgrim's Bane
by Aguni
Summary: During the troubled times of Oblivion, an Imperial Legion guard in Cyrodiil gets a letter that will change his, and his friends' lives forever. Will they complete their quest, or destroy each other in the process?
1. Chapter 1: Beginnings

Welcome to my little fanfiction, which, by the time of the posting of the first three chapters already completed, it's been about half a month old! This is my first published to the world, and if anyone has any comments or criticism on things I might have missed, overlooked, or gotten wrong, please tell me in your review, if you would. This fan fiction started out as a school project, after I had gotten the latest game in the series, Oblivion. This sparked my interest, and now here I am, publishing the first chapters of this huge adventure my characters are undertaking! A note however, to fans of Oblivion. Some things, like places, people and events are somewhat changed for better story effect, at least in the first chapter. Thanks for reading!

--Chapter I—-

Another day, another threat, right? Such thoughts were part of Avery's everyday way of life. But then, not many gods had called him on it. That still doesn't make him believe some Undead or Daedra is lurking around every corner, though. Those who didn't know him (And know him well, I might add!) said that he was a rather peculiar fellow, borderline on paranoia. But he had done his service defending his country, and that's all one person could ask for in the service of the Emperor. Lately, though, rumors had surfaced of the Emperor's assassination. Avery knew that it was the truth, concerning that he had also found out earlier in the week that his three sons were also ambushed by assassins, and killed, at that. He had got to his little house on the outskirts of the Imperial City late in his shift, due to being called in to quell some startled citizens who also had gotten a hold of the rumors. It seemed only a mere 5 minutes ago when he laid down and went to sleep, in his little house in the small area of Beur, just outside of the main bridge leading to the Imperial City. Most everyone lived farther out, or inside the city itself, so Beur comprised of only an inn, a couple farmers, and of course, Avery.

As he woke up, it was about 7 AM. Although it was his day off, he felt something strange going through the very fiber of the town. He's no mage, of course, but something felt. Well, odd. Ignoring it until he got done with his morning ritual, he combed over his black hair, which never failed to get in a mess every night. He wished it wouldn't sometimes. If it were as long as a lady's hair, he'd be in trouble, he always reminded himself. After finishing with that, and washing up, he opened his little cupboard and had a little bit to eat. Roasted meat, apples and milk were on the menu today, so he grabbed those and began chowing down, while walking about his quant cabin. Glancing out the window, he noticed an odd, although not unusual sight; everyone from the innkeeper, to the Imperial Guard that walks the trail from the Imperial Gate to even the couple farmers around the area. What made this look odd was that they were all talking to each other in a rather excited manner. This interested him. Finishing off his drink of milk, and washing out the dishes, then leaving them to dry, he walked outside to see what all the commotion was about. It always amused him out the innkeeper, Shai Lendrill, being a High Elf, always towered over most people, sometimes even intimidating them when asking her for a favour!

"I heard that the emperor was assassinated!" Called out Ewan, one of the farmers, to which his wife Mary piped in

"And his three sons were killed too!"

"We're not sure of that yet, but the Elder Council has closed its doors." Replied the Imperial Guard.

"This could cause serious problems." Shai stated grimly.

"No doubt, but don't worry, we have the situation under control."

"I do hope so, and hello Avery!" Shai added cheerfully, waving at Avery, who was leaning on his gate, eavesdropping.

"Hello, having fun with the gossip are we?" Avery chuckled.

"Quite, but this is a serious matter." Mary stated matter-of-factly.

"Still, I haven't seen the place so lively before, it's good for it nonetheless. I'm sure the Elder Council will find a way to resolve this problem. Anyone know who did it?"

"The guard said it might be the Dark Brotherhood." Said Ewan.

"That's our best guess at any rate," Added the guard. "Oh, by the way, Avery, this note came to you from the Elder Council shortly before dawn." He tossed it at Avery, who promptly caught it.

"Thanks." He then turned around and went back inside his cabin., wondering what it was.

It most certainly wasn't often that notes came from so high up to simple guards. He toyed with the idea of him being the Emperors secret heir or inheritor to a vast fortune, perhaps given instructions to explore some hidden land or even been elected to the council itself. Chuckling at the absurd ideas that came to his mind, he laid the note on the table while he went to fetch some water. After he came back, he noticed the note was glowing with a slight blue rune on the ribbon. It meant IMPORTANT, so to speak, so Avery, sighing at what possibly it could be, unraveled the scroll. What was written in it changed his life forever.

_Ye who read this note, are called upon by the Elder Council to server your country, Cyrodiil once more, by charting an unknown land, out far West. You are permitted to bring up to two companions with you on such a journey, of which the legend is inscribed upon the back of this note, however, as with this note, only you and the ones you trust will be able to discern the differences of this note, this legend, and blank parchment. You will depart for the town of Anvil, due west. Talk to to boatman named Dennis, and he will set you up with a boat. Three days to make final preparations, write letters to your companions, and depart._

_Signed Malif Bloodstone, High Elder Council Member._

At that, he promptly turned the scroll over and saw a map, unlike any landmass he had ever seen on the map of Tamriel, the only known landmass in the current world. From the map, it looked pretty big, how could sailors have missed it? Turning this thought over in his mind, he realized that the note had said three days. He had to be quick. Grabbing parchment, quill and ink from his drawers, he began writing notes to his friends, and hopefully, future companions. He made a brief explaination, but nothing vital, in case the letters were intercepted. Looking it over, he made a second copy, and as luck would have it, the mail horseman had just passed by the Inn, and was nearing his house.

"Two letters going out today? One to Kvatch, and one to Chorrol? Very well, good day to you!" the Mailman said as he rode off. Biting his lip, Avery realized that he had to suit up, and head out straight away. Gathering up his mail armor from a nearby stand, and also clasped his steel longsword, and iron shield.

"Off to adventure again, old friends?" He regarded his sword and shield. Holstering his sword, he exited his cabin, and had hoped to slip off quietly, but Ewan saw him all suited up.

"Avery, I thought it was your day off."

"I got some business to attend to in Anvil, and might not be back in some time." Avery replied, without meeting his eyes. He wasn't a very good liar, and Ewan saw right through it.

"More like some important order from the Council, don't worry, I won't tell anyone!" Ewan quickly added when Avery opened his mouth, then promptly shut it again.

"Thank you, old friend. I will be back, perhaps in a year or two!" Setting off on foot, he took the left road, on the crossroads separating the road to Chorrol from the road to Skingrad, Kvatch, then Anvil.

Halfway to Skingrad at the time of dusk, and making good time at that, he decided to set up for the night. He found a relatively enclose circle of rocks to make his campfire, and campsite. Laying out a bedroll, he sat down, and tended the fire, poring over the events of the earlier day's letter in his mind. He pulled it ouf again, just to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. It was all still there. He looked at the map a few more times, then rolled it back up and put it back in his backpack. Putting those thoughts to rest until tomorrow morning, he took off his armor, set it aside, put out the fire and went to bed.

He rose early that next morning, at around 6 AM on Tuddas. Packing his things up, but kindering the fire once more to cook some of his leftover meat, he had breakfast. An hour later, he was walking on the trail again. It wasn't long until he saw the gates of Skingrad in the distance. Haunting city, he always thought, he didn't like it at all. It wasn't the lack of people, it was that stupid wood elf Glarthir, who went around causing everyone pain, and of course every traveler had to endure him, he asked every one of them about some sort of conspiracy against him. Total nutcase. Shaking his head, he opened the giant door to the east side of Skingrad. It was already sunset there, so he looked for a place to stay. He always liked the Two Sisters Lodge, very nice hospitality. He entered, and the first thing he saw, was Glarthir roaming about. Nearly panicing, he tried to exit quietly, when Glarthir turned and saw him.

"Ah! Mind helping me out?"

"No absolutely not, get off me, Glarthir."

"How rude!" scolded Glarthir, and exited the lodge in fury.

"Sorry about him" Said Issa Weln, one of the two innkeeper sisters. "Can I do anything for you?"

"I'd like a place to stay for the night, if you can spare any rooms."

"Sure thing, we have a spare open, it'll be 20 gold for the night."

"Here you are!" Avery said cheerfully, setting 20 gold coins on the counter, to which Issa handed him a key for the last door on the right and then set up the stairs.

Entering his room, he once more took off his armor and set it aside. He wondered if it'll ever rust just from sheer boredom. Taking out the map once more, he studied it. He reckoned he'd be at Anvil in a couple days at this rate. Kvatch isn't far off, and only twice as far from Skingrad to get to Anvil. Once more putting the map away, he blew out the candles and went to sleep. When he woke up, on a table at the foot of his bed was a prepared breakfast. Always surprised at the hospitality of the two sisters, he made a mental note to thank them for it after he got done. He ate his breakfast, then as he put on his armor, he noticed something, his gauntlets were no where in sight. But after a few minutes of searching, he found that the ever-tricky things had rolled under the bed at some point. They always managed to do something to annoy him. As he returned the key and breakfast plate, he gave thanks to the sisters, and departed.

Almost at Kvatch, the mailman overtook him.

"Avery, I have replies of your letters, here they are, good day!" Handing them to Avery, he took off for Kvatch.

Avery watched him go, then unraveled the scrolls they had sent back. The first one, from Khazura, a Khajiit archer, read

_Avery,_

_Sounds like fun, I shall meet you in Anvil as soon as I can. It will be fun seeing you and Leon again!_

_Regards,_

_Khazura_

Well that was a good sign in Avery's book, she was always reliable, but now he unraveled the scroll from Leon, his Breton friend, an accomplished mage in his own right.

_Hello Avery,_

_I like the sound of a good adventure, I'll be there. I haven't seen you or Khazura in ages; this should be lots of fun._

_See you later,_

_Leon_

Happy with the replies, and somewhat dreading the new adventure he'd have to tell his newfound companions about, (Since, with the emperor assassinated and such, he couldn't relay THAT kind of information via mail!) he set off towards Anvil, since he had just passed Kvatch by the time he had gotten done reading the replies. He would be able to get to Anvil by nightfall. However, that didn't go according to plan, near the entrance of Anvil, he spotted a red hooded and cloaked figure by the side of the road. When he saw Avery approach, he raised his hand and commanded him to halt.

"Who are you, and why do you block an officer of the Imperial Legion?" Avery demanded.

"Dawn is breaking. Greet the new day." Replied the hooded figure.

"Answer my question." Avery was growing agitated, it was most likely a beggar or something of that nature. But something seemed really odd here with this fellow.

"Turn back, or you will face certain death."

"You're a prophet, I'll assume. Step aside, I have business to attend to."

"Very well," Bowed the robed and hooded person, who stepped aside. "But these were your only warnings." He menaced.

Hearing those last words, and sensing a sudden threat, he turned around, sword drawn, but where the figure was standing, there was nothing. He didn't like the look of it, at all. He wondered if Khazura and Leon were alright. Nothing he could do about it right now anyway. Sheathing his sword, he lodged at an Inn for the night.

When he woke the next morning, it was around 8 am. He went downstairs, and called for the innkeeper.

"How can I help you, traveler?" He asked.

"Did any people come here the previous night looking for me?" Avery inquired. "Maybe a Khajiit or a Breton?"

"Nope, no one asked about you during the night, are you expecting someone?"

"Actually yes, I suppose they haven't arrived yet, though." He bade the innkeeper farewell, and stepped out of the Inn. It was located close to the road, so he could keep an eye on it. Sitting in a chair near the door to the Inn, he watched the road for half an hour, pondering if something may have happened. If they set off as soon as they got his letter, they should be in Anvil by early morning at the latest. His thoughts turned to the red clothed figure who gave him a warning, and to the map. Something occurred to him.

"Maybe I'm not the only one with knowledge of the map. I should go look for Dennis, and try to get a boat ready. I must leave today." He murmured to himself.

Heading towards the docks, he caught sight of a newspaper stand, the Black House Courier, A most respectable news source in the eyes of many people. Paying a couple gold and taking his copy, he opened it up on the way to the docks, reading about the surge of Mythic Dawn 'prophets', rise of bandits in the past few months, and of course, the Emperor's assassination. Normal news topics. But something caught his eye. A few sentences in a small off to the side column. A deranged archeologist was ranting about an undiscovered continent, but before anyone could get hold of him, he had vanished without a trace. The authorities suspected foul play, perhaps a secretive organization had taken him to their holdings. This worried Avery, perhaps this organization is the Mythic Dawn, who was warning him not to go on his adventure. Well, that's just too bad, because in Avery's opinion, he didn't have much of a choice.

Folding away the Black House, he looked around the docks. There were quite a few, it could take ages to find Dennis. But he caught a passerby.

"Excuse me. Do you know where Dennis is?" He asked.

"Dennis? Hmm…Oh you must mean the boat manager, he's down by the east end of the docks, I believe." Replied the man, and walked off.

At least it was a start. Soon, he found Dennis tending to an old boat, not very big, but good enough for 5 people. It would do.

"Hello Dennis!" Greeted Avery, to which Dennis turned around from his work, which was fixing a broken steering wheel. He was an old fellow, late in his 70s, but he refused to quit his work, and he's quite adept at it as a result.

"Ah, you must be Avery. I was just getting this boat fixed up for you, it's one of the oldest, but it's still in fantastic shape. It'll work for your task." At the last word, he winked at Avery to show that he knew. "And where might your companions be?" This to which Avery frowned.

"I'm not too sure, they were supposed to be here this morning, but they haven't showed up."

"Well, you should go look for them, you're supposed to be out of here by 5 PM today, which is when the boat should be fixed." Dennis stated, pointing an old finger at him, who then resumed his work.

Turning around, and walking back to the entrance, he sat alongside the outside wall, waiting for some sign that his friends would arrive. It wasn't long, only an hour later, did he see something move out from the trees on the northern side of the road. It was Khazura, limping backwards, with her bow drawn, and Leon shortly followed, his robes ripped and torn. Avery jumped up with a start and ran towards them. Khazura lowered her bow and turned towards him. Leon began casting barrier magic on the roadside. As Avery got closer, he saw that they both had many cuts and bruises, most likely from battle.

Leon was a Breton, a human with a natural gift of magic, like all Breton can boast of. It makes them pretty much born to wield the forces of magic. Khazura was a Khajiit, a feline-like race, whose appearance ranges from nearly elven in stature, to the 'jaguar-men'. She was of the latter. They are very adept hunters and archers, and their stealth makes them very good thieves.

"What happened to you both!" Avery asked with surprise, helping Leon to his feet, and handing Khazura a healing potion he had on him. She was walking normally now, helping Avery Support leon, they headed for the Anvil chapel. As the main priest there was healing Leon with the restorative magic available to the healers, Khazura turned to Avery, to explain their plight.

"We were ambushed, just as soon as we met up north of Kvatch in the wilderness. We thought it best to avoid the road, we heard of the increase in bandits," She began, "But we didn't count on one thing, the Mythic Dawn. Vile things they are, they demanded that we halt our progress to Anvil! Yes, they knew we were going there! We refused, and the Mythic members that we had encountered, has summoned a legion of skeletons and zombies at his heels, and then vanished into the shadows, leaving us to deal with them. We had no choice but to run against a score of such creatures. We had battled them all throughout the night, attempting to shake them off in wild turns throughout the wilderness, but we were slowly being worn out…Leon was running out of Magicka, and I was running out of arrows. Early this morning we managed to shake them off, or so it seemed. As we neared the road, they ambushed us again. We spent the last of our powers in that final attack, in what we think we finally dispatched them all. I have but one arrow left in my quiver, and that is how we end up here with you."

She finished, resting on the chapel steps. Avery stood at the base, glancing toward the road, in case of a massive assault on the town, to prevent them from sailing off. Uneasy, he turned back towards Khazura.

"Well, I'm happy that you're both still alive. This adventure has turned a deadly turn, and it has barely even begun. Here," He handed her the scroll, entrusting her to read it over. "You should be able to read this. No one except the ones I trust can. I'll go check on Leon." Leaving her with the scroll, he entered the chapel, where Leon was just beginning to walk towards the door with the priest.

"Hail, Avery!" Leon exclaimed, meeting Avery and shaking hands.

"Leon, old friend, you are lucky to be alive!" Avery said gravely.

"Do not worry, your friend is all right now, patched up, good as new. In fact, I taught him some basic healing spells in case this kind of thing happens again. Farewell!" Said the priest, stepping through a side door, leaving Leon and Avery.

"We were ambushed by-" Leon began

"No need, Khazura already told me about it. This adventure may be far more dangerous than from what I told you before." At which point Khazura entered the chapel.

"This is amazing, Avery!" She exclaimed, as she handed the scroll to Leon. "Take a look, Leon, this is where we are headed, out west!"

Leon read the letter, then turning it over, and studying the map, he nodded to himself.

"So this is what the archeologist was babbling about, and people wouldn't believe him. Khazura, I think that's what the Mythic Dawn members are after. This map."

"So it would seem. We need to get out of here, and quickly. Khazura, Leon. Old friends, I ask you this only once. It could turn far more dangerous than what you have already encountered. We are going to explore a new LAND! There could be far worse things there, and even yet, there could be more Mythic Dawn members there, making our task very difficult." Avery said, adding a note of seriousness to his voice. But that didn't shake his old friends, they both agreed without pause, to come with him. He was overjoyed, and asked them to come with him, the boat might be ready to depart.

On the way to the docks, Leon had a question.

"Avery, are we going to sail due west immediately, or stop at Summerset Isle on the way out?"

"Most likely we'll stop at Summerset to re-supply and then head out again within a day."

Soon they arrived at the dock where their ship was being prepared, and Dennis was waiting. At this time, it was 4:30 PM.

"Avery, found your two companions I see, well, the ship is ready for takeoff whenever you see fit. I've stocked supplies that should last you until you get to Summerset, which from there you might need to re-supply." Explained Dennis.

"Thank you, you've been a great help. We will get underway immediately," Beckoning for the other two to follow him onto the boat, he then turned to Dennis again, who was beginning to walk off. "Oh, and Dennis."

"Yes, Avery?" He turned back around, wondering what the problem could be.

"Watch out for strange people, they were after us, we're not sure if they will come after you or not."

"Will do, you kids have fun now."

Looking over the town of Anvil one last time, he then turned around and began prepping the ship for takeoff.

As they were sailing out, Khazura secured the anchor, while Leon went below deck to survey the rest of the ship. Avery continues steering the ship out of the Anvil bay, and out towards the westernmost point in Summerset Isle, home of the High Elves, or Altmer, as they call themselves. Lillandril wasn't far off, it would take about a day or two to get there. Pulling out a map of the known provinces of Tamriel, he surveyed Summerset Isle, and was certain they'd be able to reach Lillandril before the week is done. Satisfied with this fact, he locked the steering wheel in place, so that the ship wouldn't veer dangerously off course during the night. It was already dusk, the sun having set beyond the horizon.

Turning around, he went down the steps towards the lower decks, to see Khazura milling about in the two-man kitchen of the ship.

"It's not bad, for such an old ship." She remarked as Avery passed. The cupboards were filled with supplies, which would last them a long time. Happy with this fact, he left the kitchen, and then went down the hall towards the crew quarters. He spotted five doors, one of course being the restroom, and the other four doors being wide open. The rooms themselves had considerable space, enough for one or two people apiece. Luckily, there were only three of them, so they could use the fourth for storage for now. Leon walked out of one of them.

"Spacey rooms, it'll work well. I'd say this ship is well suited for our adventure." He proclaimed happily, and went to go explore the kitchen.

Avery was quite satisfied with the ship. Most of them didn't have glass portholes in the sides of the crew cabins. At least, none this old. Dennis did well, and so did the Elder Counsel. At least they made sure that it was a pleasant journey to a new land.

As night fell, Leon and Khazura turned in, but Avery stayed above deck, studying the mysterious map that has propelled them on such a strange adventure. Already assassins are at their heels, and who knows what else may come. Looking up from the parchment, there was a slight fog gathering. He wondered how far they were towards Summerset. Checking his compass, the stars, the speed of the ship, and when they departed, they should be within sight of Summerset Isle at noon tomorrow. He decided that he might as well get some sleep, tomorrow will be a busy day. Going below deck, he put out the torches on the walls, slowly extinguishing light as he went. After storing his armor, weapons and backpack in the spare room, he closed his door enough so that it blocked a major view, but also wasn't closed all the way. He drifted off the sleep right away. It seemed only seconds later that he woke up, and it was very early morning. He didn't know why he was up; the sun wasn't even beginning to rise yet. He frowned at the morning sky outside his window, and then lay back down. It was at that moment that he thought he heard a voice. It was barely audible, but it was getting louder. He heard a door open, and as a figure passed by his cracked door, that he identified the sound: Sobbing. Soon enough, as soon as he saw the drooping tail, he knew who it was. His heart sank like a stone in cold water. Khazura never got over the destruction of her hometown at the hands of the Argonians. All of her family killed, the buildings razed, she was the only one left in the town of Rai-Enga, which in the native tongue of the Khajiit meant Little Wood. She had never told anyone else about it, and never mentioned it again, nor had she ever mentioned the nightmares she has, perhaps every night. Leon never knew, he was a sound sleeper, but it always saddened Avery. He knew he wouldn't understand, but it depressed him nonetheless. After she returned to her room a while later, the sun was beginning to rise, the sky's light was turning bright outside of Avery's window. Knowing he couldn't do back to sleep, he rose, and went topside to check on the boat.

A calm breeze had settled over the seas that morning, no clouds in sight. Any fog that was there the previous night had vanished entirely. The sun was slowly climbing as Avery stepped on deck. Checking their position, he was surprised. They would be within sight of Summerset Isle within the hour! A Quick breakfast will be in order, as the seas will gradually shift in current and in depth from this point on. Going down the stairs he almost ran into Leon, who was running up them.

"Hey, Avery, Khazura made breakfast for us." He said cheerfully, putting on his wide brimmed purple hat, matching his robes.

"Man, Leon, you should take that off, otherwise you'll look like a walking mushroom when we head ashore!" And with that they roared with laughter down towards the dining room.

As they walked in, Khazura had just finished getting ready.

"Breakfast is served, eat up!" She said, seating herself in one of the chairs.

As they all sat down and started eating, Avery took a pause in between mouthfuls.

"We're going to be at Summerset far sooner than we expected."

"How soon?" Khazura asked.

"Within the hour, so we all better hurry up, we got some work to do!"

His words couldn't have been truer. Not minutes after they were done, they were scrambling across the deck. The wind had violently changed direction, much against their favor, trying to drive the ship onto coral reefs. Eventually though, with much effort, they managed to navigate out of that dangerous situation, and were now heading towards the westernmost port of Summerset Isle, Lillandril.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Avery grined at the others, double bent over the railing, catching his breath, his dark hair all over his face.

"Speak for yourself." Khazura pouted, trying to shake the water out of her fur. Meanwhile, Leon was below deck, supposedly going to check for leaks, but they both knew he got seasick easily. Happy with their victorious outcome over the violent costal seas, Avery turned to guide the ship into dock.


	2. Chapter 2: Encounter

--Chapter II-- 

Our setting now turns to sunset on that same day, where two emerald robed and hooded figures are in the middle of the wilderness, on Summerset Isle, just outside of Lillandril. One of them was hunched over, gathering rare herbs, the other holding a nocked bow and arrow, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

"We need to leave very soon, Ashtar, I'm getting bad feelings about this." Said the standing figure with the bow. Looking up, her Wood Elven face was illuminated by the setting sun. She saw a couple of crows pass over, cawing. She turned back to the first figure, Ashtar.

"The crows deliver news. Dark ones are on the way, close. We must move now." She raised her bow at the cluster of trees to the southwest of their position. Where they were standing was a small copse, which all the surrounding land was higher than it.

"Ok, let's go." Ashtar rasped from behind the hood, putting the last of the ingredients into a small bag. No sooner had he rose than 5 red robed figured, wearing chain mail over their robes, appeared all around them, on the ledges surrounding the copse. All of them had their longswords lowered towards them. Ashtar and the second figure stood back to back. Ashtar drew his sword, as he did so, also lowered his hood for better visibility. Ashtar was of the Dragonred tribe, a tribe of red scaled lizard-men. Argonians are reptile-like humanoids, able to breath underwater and resist many poisons as a result of them hailing from their vile marsh homelands.

"Too late to do that, Argonian." Hissed one of the assassins from behind his red hood.

"Belwen, follow my lead." Ashtar rasped to Belwen, who nodded slightly.

"I think not, Mythic Dawn members, because you can see us now," Ashtar growled to the assassins, "But now you CAN'T!" Ended this with a loud crash of breaking glass, as a vapor rose very quickly around them, blinding the assassins to their presence. Belwen simultaneously teleported them 50 feet forward, outside of their ring, while said assassins were still trying to figure out what happened. They couldn't detect that they had transported, so they still assumed that they were in the vapor cloud.

They both ran as fast as they could towards the White Stallion Inn, the only one in Lillandril, though quite a toll was taken on their robes, as many thorn bushes populated the area.

"That turned rather dangerous." Belwen panted, just outside of the Stallion's door. Both of them sat down in the bench, smiling at their escape. "But I bet that they had no idea where we went."

"Although it won't take them long to figure that out, we got what we went there for," Ashtar declared, holding up some various rare herbs, "I'm sure these will prove useful ingredients for our shop." He was referring to their shop, The Alchemist's Stop, which sold some very useful and rare ingredients, potions, and supplies on alchemy. Lately though, they were thinking of selling the shop, and go adventuring. It would work well, Belwen being, in majority, a healer, and Ashtar being a skilled alchemist and blades man, it was a fitting match. Belwen spotted three people walking down the road, asking questions to people around. One of them was dressed in fine steel armor, one other was a Khajiit in leather armor, with a rather mean looking bow, and the last was a mage, shrouded in a purple robe and hat. Ashtar soon spotted them too. Both of them wordlessly got up, not liking the look of these travelers, and went into the Inn, with hoods lowered.

The inside of the White Stallion was ablaze with activity. Lillandril was a heavily traveled port, allowing for all kind of species and cultures to mix and mingle. The Inn was larger than you would think from the outside. The oaken walls were lit with many candles and lanterns hanging high. Over a score of tables and chairs lined the floor, with a good amount of space in between, it was more like a parlor than an Inn. Both of them took seats at the far edge of the semi-circular bar, allowing them to keep an eye on the door.

"Two waters, please." Ashtar called, setting down a couple gold coins. He took a look around.

It was pretty full tonight, apparently a new ship had arrived, not a pleasant one at that, from the look of these Nords. Thing about Nords, that you can tell them apart from the other humans, is they are considerably taller. Another thing that makes them unique is their heavy resistance to cold, even magical frost. This group consisted of pirates, by the looks of them. Normally Nords are peaceful sailors, but there are always a select few who turn nasty. He received a nudge from Belwen, who nodded at the door. In came the three they spotted earlier. They lowered their heads to avoid being spotted easily. Ashtar quickly replaced their waters with two other glasses, and they drained them. The travelers drew near. Ashtar had his hand on the hilt of one of his twin blades. Just as Avery began to pass them, Ashtar lunged out. A loud thud took place. The entire Inn went silent and turned towards the scene. Ashtar had risen from his chair and swung one of his twin blades directly at Avery. Belwen was nowhere to be seen. Poison dripped down from where the blade had hit the wooden pillar, where Avery's head had been. Ashtar narrowed his eyes in anger at his miss.

"You missed." Avery sneered, and grabbed for his sword. But no later had he moved than a bright flash filled the Inn, blinding everyone. When Avery, Leon and Khazura regained their sight, they saw a red tail vanishing up the flight of stairs directly ahead. Up the stairs, they noticed one of the doors was open, charging in the room, they saw nothing. Avery had his longsword at the ready, Khazura had her bow in hand, and Leon's hands were glowing with a blue power, snowflakes could be seen emanating from time to time. Turning around, Avery noticed something at the same time Khazura and Leon noticed something stir behind Leon. Ashtar stood to the back and in between Leon and Khazura, both twin swords drawn and at the throats of Leon and Khazura. Behind Avery, Belwen had her bow and arrow pointed directly at the back of Avery's head. Khazura had her bow and arrow ready as well, pointed at Belwen, such was Leon's target of magic as well. Avery also had his weapon poised to strike, the point of his blade was near Ashtar's throat.

"Make a move, a single move, and your allies die." Ashtar hissed, riddling his words with poison, meaning every syllable.

"The same goes for your elven friend behind me, lizard." Avery retorted. Everyone knew that the outcome depended on who would make a move first. The fatal poison from Ashtar's twin blades was creeping slowly towards the tips.

_drip_

There was increased commotion downstairs, most likely because of the attempted murder.

_drip_

Khazura's eyes darted from the blade right beneath her chin to Belwen, who returned the glance.

_drip_

Floorboards creaking on the steps just outside. Is there someone coming?

_drip_

A breeze flows into the room, yet the door hasn't moved from its cracked position.

_drip_

Soft sounds are heard about them. They all glance at each other. No one moved.

_drip_

Was it a ghost? It might be just their imaginations, but they all heard it. Or maybe it could be-

_drip_

"ASSASSINS!" Yelled Ashtar, and everyone jumped into action. 5 figures in red robes took the corners of the room, one guarding the door. Ashtar turned his right blade in front of Leon upwards, deflecting an arrow into the roof. Drawing the other out from Khazura's neck, he impaled the shooter of the arrow. Avery charged forward as soon as Ashtar had moved, also impaling an attacker, this one by the door. Belwen adjusted her aim to the right of Khazura, putting an arrow in the forehead of the other corner assassin. One of the assassins made a run for Leon, but Khazura's arrow found its target, and the assassin fell before his blade could touch Leon, who had blasted the last assassin into frozen shards. Everyone lowered their weapons, and shouldered their bows. Ashtar stepped forward and clasped Avery's hand, while the others looted the assassins bodies.

"You got my message, I'm glad." He smiled. Avery, likewise, returned the smile.

"Yes, it all worked out well. We both avoided rather bloody deaths at the hands of these assassins."

"They followed us from the copse that we were harvesting for plants, but we're not sure why."

"We've run into them when we were about to depart from Anvil."

"Strange, perhaps they knew we would meet…Hmm…No matter, thank you for your assistance, I will take leave now to notify the guards." But as he left, his half-torn robe got caught on the door handle, and to Khazura, something became visible. She saw some runes in her own native language inscribed on Ashtar's back. What she saw was gone the next moment, as he pulled the robe back over his back and exited the room. Avery saw it too, and motioned for her to be silent until they were alone. He turned to Belwen as Leon and Khazura were leaving the room to scout for more assassins.

"So, you're Ashtar's assistant?" He asked.

"Yes."

"I'm wondering, although this will seem sudden, we are going on an adventure to a new land, and of course, we will need all the help we can get. I'm surprised by the skill of both your teamwork and powers. It's certainly not easy for one to make a working invisibility potion, and a mind-link potion."

"So you knew what those were." She didn't seem surprised. Avery nodded.

"Well, the thing is, I would say yes, but Ashtar might not. You see, he uh, doesn't like Khajiit." She said nervously, looking at the floor.

"I saw Elsweyrian runes on his back when he left. I'm positive Khazura did as well."

"You see, the thing is, he despises them because when he was young, a band of rouge Khajiit destroyed his hometown. Few lived. Those runes on the back are a warning to all Khajiit who come across him…I shouldn't have told you that." She added, beginning to walk away, but Avery stood in the doorway.

"Yet, the same thing also happened to Khazura, she has Argonian runes on her arm as well, that more or less give the same warning. I'm sure we could convince them to not hate each other." He searched her eyes for cooperation, and found it.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll go find Ash and try to convince him." She ran out the room. Khazura walked towards Avery.

"No, I'm not going to have him with us." Making it apparent to Avery that she heard every word, Avery put a hand to his forehead. This wasn't working well already.

"Look, he's not like those other Argonians that destroyed your village. He could actually HELP us." He reasoned, she only returned a nasty look. Elsewhere…

"No, Belwen, I won't listen. I'm not boarding a ship with a Khajiit." Ashtar argued, slamming some cupboards in his store.

"But Ashtar, it's our only chance. You were talking just days ago how nice it would be to go out and explore the land. This is our best chance, it's an entire continent." Belwen pleaded, "We can easily just pack up and get ready to sail tomorrow morning, and they're leaving at dawn. This is our best chance, man." Looking outside, Ashtar saw that it was already dusk. Not much time left. He sighed.

"You're right, petty hatreds need to be put to rest. This IS our best chance, indeed. Get ready to go, I'll pack up my things." He turned and grinned, as much as grinning is possible for an Argonian.

Later that night, Avery was showing them the fourth room in the ship.

"I'm quit happy you decided to join us, and luckily this room is bigger than the others. We were using this room for storage before, but we took all of our stuff out and put an extra bed in. There's room for you both." He announced as they surveyed the room. Ashtar was looking out the view ports.

"This will be fine, thanks." Belwen smiled, and bade him good night. Shutting the door, she turned to Ashtar.

"So, we're on our way to a new land. Scary and interesting at the same time, isn't it?"

Ashtar turned from the windows.

"Interesting? Oh yes, very, but scary? No, I don't think so." He said, opening his chest, and surveying his battle armors and gears. Another chest nearby was also open, revealing incredible amounts of potions and ingredients. "Hmm, I think I forgot my blacksmith tools. I did want to complete my glass armor set. Oh well, at least I have my armor repairing tools." He began to mend his linen robe, damaged earlier that day from the thorn bushes. He noticed Belwen still staring at him.

"What?"

"Are you sure you're ok with Khazura?" She asked cautiously. He exhaled deeply to show his displeasure at the subject.

"It's not the point if I'm ok with her or not." He stated simply, returning to sewing his robes.

"Yes it is, Ashtar, what if she gets in trouble, will you refuse to help her out of hate for what those rogues did to your…" She began, but Ashtar suddenly rose with fury, interrupting her.

"You accuse me of betraying, who is now my companion, out of sheer bitterness?" He asked quietly, meeting her eyes.

"No, no, that's not what I meant at all, I was only-"

"You were only trying to what; try to make me forget how…"Ashtar stopped, seeing her crestfallen face, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have responded like that. I don't know Belwen; I really don't know how things will go." He ended with a weak smile to try to cheer her up. He locked his chests, and went to bed. Belwen and Avery didn't sleep well that night, wondering how things would go, considering that there were two individuals, whose opposite races had inflicted great amounts of hate upon them.

It was early the next morning. The sun hadn't risen yet, but Avery was awake anyway. He went into the kitchen and started nibbling on an apple, not entirely focused on eating. Thinking about the new land they were supposed to sail to today, he barely noticed what was moving outside the window. Soon afterwards, he saw something arc out of the water and land back in with a splash, directly outside the kitchen window. Not realizing he still had an apple in hand, he ran topside, and peered over the edge of the boat. Lo and behold! It was Ashtar, out for a (very) early morning swim. Ashtar had just begun climbing back up the chip via a rope ladder he had let down previously. He hopped over the railing and turned to see Avery with a surprised look on his face.

"Ah! You're out early today, Avery." Ashtar said, drying himself off, and fitting a new robe on.

"Early enough for a snack, at least that's how I thought it'd turn out!" They both laughed.

"So, we're casting off today, are we, Captain?" Ashtar inquired. Avery nodded.

"However, Ash, I'd like you to read something on this map. It's in Argonian I think, and I can't figure out what it means." He handed Ashtar the map, and pointed to a series of long and elegant symbols directly below a mountain to the northwest of the map.

"Hmm," Ashtar puzzled at it. "It is indeed in Argoniaa, and it says this; 'Cave of the Argonian King'. This refers to the ancient king of Argonia, Xi-Gaunt…But he's a myth, no proof is said to exist of him being real. Legends say that he had rallied the Argonians against their Dark Elf oppressors, and then to freedom. He is said then to have sailed off to the east, looking for a new land, off the Argonian coastline, and was never seen again. I personally think it was all rubbish…But this…This last word below it reads as a pilgrim's bane…" He trailed off, staring at the map. He handed it back to Avery, who returned his look of puzzlement. What could this new finding mean? Could it mean that people already found such a land, but never came back to tell about it?

During this time, the sun was beginning to rise. It was still barely below the horizon when they heard the chime from the dining room bell, indicating it was time to eat. They had a busy day ahead. The table was quite happy a cheerful, everyone was joking and laughing, making the day seem less daunting than it would prove. The only exception of this was Khazura, who was completely silent, and didn't take her eyes off her plate. Avery watched her across the table, his mood quickly fell. She still wasn't happy with Ashtar being on board. Ashtar seemed to catch this as well. They all finished. Avery and Ashtar gathered the dishes and took them to the kitchen, telling the others to get ready to cast off. Khazura was still sitting at the table, this time gazing outside the window. As Leon and Belwen went topside, Ashtar and Avery began cleaning the dishes.

"You know, you're better at getting ready to sail than cleaning dishes." Ashtar said.

"That doesn't mean I can't help out with the every day chores." Avery replied, not meeting his gaze.

"No point in beating around the bush, what's the matter?"

"I wanted to know the same answer." Avery replied, meeting his eyes, to which Ashtar turned to the sink again.

"I feel like I've done something wrong. Khazura won't look at me or reply to me at all. I sometimes wonder if she even sees me there." Ashtar said, his tone hinting at annoyance. Possibly with himself.

"You've done nothing wrong."

"I refuse to believe that." He said angrily, and stormed out of the kitchen. Avery sighed, and finished the dishes. He went topside himself, and found everyone getting ready to cast off. He took the steering wheel. Looking up, he saw Khazura and Belwen on the riggings, ready to drop the sails at his word. Ashtar and Leon were likewise near the back, ready to haul the anchor up. He gave both groups the thumbs up, meaning it was time. The anchor hauled, the sails dropped, it was time to head out. The wind quickly propelled their boat out of the Summerset Isle bay, and out into the open seas. The exuberance of a promising adventure was, however, thought Avery, overshadowed by some of his crewmate's dislike for one another. Neither he nor Belwen liked it one bit, and Leon was, as always, oblivious to it all. Later on that day, a few hours later, he switched with Leon, who took the helm, while he went below deck to rest, and mainly, to see what the others were up to. Glancing into the rooms, he saw that Ashtar was reading a book in his quarters. He was the only one on that deck it seemed. He approached the staircase, and noticed that Belwen had set up a sort of armory repair center on the empty deck below the crew quarters. Following the sounds of hammer hitting iron, he found Belwen and Khazura making iron arrows. Belwen motioned for him to come near.

"We've set up an armor repair center down here, since it's not being used for anything else." She announced, quite happy with her find. She then noticed Avery's shield. "Hmm, the steel looks cracked through the center there, can I see it?"

"Sure." He handed it to her, and she bolded some iron into a fitting for the crack, then she used some fire magic to melt it in place, securing it.

"There you go!" She said, handing the repaired shield back to him.

"Thanks. So you can repair all kinds of armor here, huh?"

"Yes she can, she fixed my leather armor as well." Khazura said, the cuts and tears gained from the wilderness attack from a couple weeks ago in her armor was now gone.

"I'm impressed! We have quite the team on board. A healer who can also repair armor, an incredible alchemist, a sharpshooter who rarely ever misses," Khazura smiled at the compliment, "A powerful mage, and me." Ending it with a grin, pointing to himself. They laughed.

"Yes, we know how great you are!" Belwen chuckled.

As Avery went back up the stairs, there was a fierce rumble, shaking the air both outside the ship and within. Looking through the window on the stairs, he turned back towards the other two, but before he could say anything, Leon and Ashtar came running down the steps, stopping short of the step where Avery was.

"A storm is gathering outside, Avery, to the West. We might want to stay up tonight so that the ship doesn't tip over in the winds that are picking up!" Leon was of course referring to their nightly shift. Normally they rotated, one person managing the boat, while the rest slept. Ashtar was irritated by this.

"You're saying that I can't pilot a ship in stormy weather without aid?" He growled to Leon, "I am, after all, Argonian. I don't have a problem with the water and wind, at all." He crossed his arms, and turned to Avery.

"You know, Ashtar, you can't handle gusting winds that could snap the sails off." Avery said, indicating a fact, to which Ashtar relented.

"Fine. What do you think we should do?"

"I'll stay on deck with you to help in case anything goes awry."

Ashtar agreed to this. It was already past dusk by the time everyone was ready. The storm was nearly over the ship. The others reluctantly went to bed.

Avery was leaning on the guardrail near the steering wheel, watching the lightning flash periodically from the storm descending upon them.

"Do you get these kind of storms in the Black Marsh?" Avery asked, referring to Ashtar's homeland, the southeastern-most part of the known lands.

"I wouldn't know, I wasn't there for long. But when I was, I remember big storms. Like this, from what I can tell, yes. As long as you kept out of shallow and rocky waters, you were usually fine." He replied, watching the waters ahead, as if they would suddenly kick up, "But, what if I told you these waters weren't as deep as the sea should be?" At this, Avery narrowed his eyes, turning towards Ashtar.

"You mean we're nearing land?"

"Possibly, although there is none in sight, it's probably a shoal or a high reef. Most likely, however, an island that was recently swallowed up by the sea. Although," He met Avery's look of concern with a look of confidence, "It's not shallow enough to run this boat aground. We'll be fine."

Avery sighed. Ashtar rolled his eyes.

"You are always so skeptical. You don't trust in anything. Why is this?" He asked, although he already knew the answer.

"What is there to trust in? Nothing is definite. I don't want to put my trust in something and have it broken by an event that could happen."

"Yet you trust no one for the same reason?"

"It's not who I trust, it's what."

"I don't believe that. People are as prone to go awry as objects and events are."

"Believe what you will, I cannot convince you otherwise."

Silence fell, the rumbling of the nearing thunderstorm approaching. The wall of tension between Avery and Ashtar, spawned since they met, only increased with those words of distrust.

"That thunder storm doesn't look normal." Announced a voice behind them.

"More than two are needed to keep a boat from running aground." Said another.

"We're here to help." Voiced a third.

Avery looked over his shoulder. There were Khazura, Leon and Belwen, coming up the steps to where Avery and Ashtar were. Ashtar didn't make any sign that he noticed they were there.

"You sure you don't want to go rest while me and Aver-" Ashtar began, not taking his eyes off the seas, when Leon interrupted him

"Can it, Ash, you know as well as I that the storm doesn't look normal."

"What do you suggest is causing it then, Leon? Who could have magical energies that immense?"

At this neither had an answer, until:

"A ship, off to the starboard!" Khazura announced, her keen Khajiit eyes focusing on an object far away, which was at the edge of the approaching storm. Everyone's eyes turned towards it and to the sky as well. It was true enough; the storm was following that ship. Worse yet, the ship were slowly heading their direction.

"Get your equipment." Avery spoke. Everyone, including him seemed to be still in a trance at the approaching raid ship.

"NOW!" He yelled, everyone jumped, and ran below deck, including him.

After fitting on all their equipment, readying their weapons, bows and arrows, once more were they in wait of the approaching ship. It was barely half a mile away.

"Khazura, how many?" Leon asked, referring to the number of pirates on the ship. Khazura's keen eyes rivaled that of many elven scouts.

"Two score. Maybe more." She stated, in a flat tone. Leon clenched his magical staff. It was obvious that everyone was tense, a battle eminent.

As the ship drew near, it was apparent how they were generating the storm. A platform was where the crow's nest should have been. Four red robed casters chanting and waving their arms, channeling the energies for a magical storm and fog, which was gathering around the ship. Khazura's count was correct, it was apparent that there were over a score of battle-ready, red armored warriors on the raiding ship.

"Mythic Dawn?" Avery asked.

"They couldn't be out THIS far…" Leon replied, gazing over.

"With a map they could." Piped in Belwen. They all knew they must have a map as well, but not a complete one, otherwise they wouldn't be searching for land up to this point.

The ship had pulled directly alongside them. The five warriors tensed as the captain approached the side of his railing to gloat. His armor was like the others', red cloth pants and shirt, covered with iron armor. A sword hung, shealthed, at his right side, while the rest had one at their left.

"Let's not beat around the bush. You're here to take the map." Avery yelled with a tone of defiance across the length of water seperating the two stationary ships.

"Quite correct," Grinned the Mythic Dawn captain. "And in fact, I may just take your lives as well for such a defiant remark!" He snapped his fingers, and over came ten men from the other ship, while the others readied bows to snipe. Leon circumvented this by casting a shield between the ships, preventing a shower of arrows, but too late to stop the jumpers. Avery drew his longsword, readied his shield and charged into a group of them. Leon began casting ice spells, the ground on the ship all around him started to turn blue, and frost arched outward from his fingertips, hitting several of the pirates, causing more frost to grow on their armors, slowing their movement down. Ashtar drew his poisoned blades, and engaged two in combat, both of their swords against his twin blades. Belwen drew her sword, with Khazura covering her. Belwen's sword slashed into a pirate, killing him. Another came up from behind, sword raised. He was quickly smitten by an arrow from Khazura's bow. Ashtar already downed his opponents, and attacked the group that was holding Avery down, 5 more fell from Leon's storm gust attack. The last three fell beneath Ashtar and Avery's combined swordsmanship. They barely had time to regroup when the next wave came. As they flew through the air, over the shield Leon had put up previously, Belwen had drawn her bow, and both her and Khazura were sniping them in the air. Three fell before they hit the ground. Ashtar too, took a preemptive, throwing his twin blades in and arc, impaling two. The battle shifted as they approached the travlers. Leon had shifted into full attack form, and summoning all his power, began wiping out the score of pirates around him with devastating magic attacks, smashing some with the power of ice, burning others with fire. Avery Smote other with his blade, severly outmatched. Khazura's bow was smashed, forcing her to rely on her twin short swords. Ash's eye caught Belwen's, knowing that they would serve better on opposite sides. Calling what little magic they had forth, they exchanged via teleportation. Ashtar and Khazura stood back to back fighting off the hordes of foes, while Belwen, casted holy magic to ward off others and heal Avery's wounds. Leon was attracting the most attention, his fire and ice magic causing brilliant flares in the night battle, illuminating both ships.

"Kill them already!" The Mythic Dawn captain screamed from the other ship. Getting tired of his follower's imcompetence, he readied to jump over himself. He stopped shot however, from a fireball arching over his head, and smashing the platform above in firey rage. The force of it rocked the boat, and as the clouds began to disappear, he knew the casters were dead.

Ashtar and Khazura had lodged their blades is now fallen pirates, and began fending the remainder surrounding them with their fists. Both Argonians and Khajiit are known to be exceptionally good hand-to-hand fighters by nature, as was proved by this. They quickly disarmed and struck down any who ventured in close enough for a swipe with their sword. Avery and Belwen finished dealing with their group of pirates, and Leon was quelling the raging magical inferno that he manifested, when they all noticed the captain leap onto the boat, in between of Belwen, Avery and Leon. Avery held out a hand ot the other two, clearly insinuating that an honorable one on one duel was taking place, and that no one will interferre until either he or the captain is dead.


	3. Chapter 3: Trust and Distrust

**--**Chapter III**--**

The captain, grinning once more, drew his sword, a long katana. Avery raised his bloodied steel longsword, and with a sigh, engaged the captain in a final duel. Avery swung low, but the captain blocked and countered with a spin and chop to the head, which Avery ducked. The captain tried again with a stab, and that was his mistake. Avery drew his longsword, and thrust it forward while moving slightly to the left, dodging the captain's attack. The sound of steel cutting through armor could be heard, as could a guttural sound from the captain, who fell to his knees.

"Not bad…But don't worry, others will come…" The captain whispered to Avery before dieing. Avery withdrew his sword from his body. He surveyed the deck. It was awash with the blood of over fifty pirates. Leon was calling force the power of waves to wash the scum off the deck. Belwen was retrieving the weapons and blades of her allies. Leon gazed around, but something was wrong.

"Where are Ashtar and Khazura?" He asked. Avery feared the worst, that which they too, fell against a horde of pirates. He however, spied Ashtar crouching over a fallen figure: Khazura.

All three ran over, their boots splashing on the waves Leon had generated, the deck lit by both the moonlight overhead and the burning pirate ship.

Ashtar was crushing herbs with shaking, cut hands over a bowl of water, woaking Khazura's shoulder in it, which received a deep gash, stopping short of her breast. The skin and fur around the cut was turning a sickening greenish color, indicating a heavy poison. Ashtar began slumping over, when Belwen and Leon grabbed him by the shoulders and held him upright. Belwen's face turned a ghastly look when she surveyed his wounds. There were multiple cuts and gashes. They quickly carried him downstairs towards the quarters, where many of his own medicines and Belwen's major healing tomes reside. Avery picked up the lifeless Khazura, his face still as stone. He wasn't sure if either of them would survive. Whatever Ashtar did to that cut, something was happening. The poisonous tinge to her skin was now gone, and she was breathing again. Avery took her inside, laid her down on the bed beside Ashtar. He then retired to his quarters, dropping his bloody pieces of armor on the floor. Although he had not received any wounds himself, he was exhausted from such a long and tedious fight. He sat down on his bed, and laid his head in his hands. Footsteps were heard in the doorway. He parted a finger to see Leon standing there, his purple robe and hat sporting multiple tears.

"Belwen says we're lucky they're alive." Leon said softly.

"I know…I know. It could have been so much worse…so much worse. Why did I bring them into this? Why did I accept such a dangerous task? Why did I risk my companions', and my friends' LIVES in this stupid mission?" He despaired, he can only think of the near lifeless forms of Ashtar and Khazura, and the last words of the pirate captain.

"It wasn't your fault, you didn't forsee this coming." Reasoned he.

"It doesn't matter. We have to turn back."

"We can't, we're too far out now to turn back!" At this, Avery rose with fury and confronted Leon.

"Who says we can't? You're not the boss of me! I will not endanger another companion's life while I am still alive."

"How selfish of you. You'd rather die than live with responsibility?"

"If you were any other man…" Avery snarled, then realized what he was saying, and stopped, his eyes filled with despair once more.

"I'm sorry, Leon, I'm not myself. I didn't want things to go this far…"

"I know old friend, I too, am sorry for my harsh words," Leon patted him on the back. "Now come, let's see what progress Belwen has made on our friends."

The scene was grim. The air had the smell of blood in it. Belwen had worked hard the past few hours of the night, and had retired to her quarters. Leon too had left, leaving Avery, sitting on a chair, loking at his friends, and mulling over the choices he's made. All of the major cuts on Ashtar were now healed by the power of strong herbs and magic, and he was now resting. He hasn't awakened yet, neither has Khazura, who was still suffering from the poison that had already entered the bloodstream. She was running a fever earlier, but Belwen got it down, and now she's recovering. Ash stirred, and began rising, sitting upright. Rubbing his eyes, he began checking for major wounds when he noticed Avery sitting there, observing him.

"I made these choices of my own free will; I knew it could mean death." He whispered through the darkened room, the creaking of the ship punctuating his statement.

Avery said nothing, but rose and patted him on the back, to which Ashtar winced. Not all bruises and wounds had healed completely.

"Rest, friend, you have done great deeds tonight. In fact, you probably saved a friend's life." Avery turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly. Ashtar laid down, realizing that for once, hatred of another just because of what evildoers had done, is senseless and bitter. No sooner had he accepted this fact than he drifted off to a complete and content sleep.

Khazura awoke from her troubled dreams of a little town under burning fire and death, shortly before dawn. Always the same dream, time after time again. She wonders if she'll ever get over it. But right now, her body was sore. She remembered something. Her hand touched her opposite shoulder. A battle. That's right; a blade had run through her shoulder, with poison that crippled her immideatly. She also remembers someone over her, their bleeding hands shaking, and crushing herbs over her gash. It was Ashtar…But she didn't understand why he would help her when all she had done is refused to even look at him. The pangs of guilt and remorse followed after these thoughts. Her eyes turned to the bed on the other side of the room. There was no one there. Clearly though there had been, there were minor bloodstains on the sheets, which were pulled away fro mthe edges, as though someone had indeed got up. She glanced towards the windows, where the sun was beginning to rise. She'd like to see that. Rising up, she opened the door and turned towards the steps. She had gone almost all the way up them, and opened the door when she saw a lone shirtless figure looking to the east. The creak of the door made him aware of her presence.

"It's okay, there's no need to go away." Ashtar spoke, without turning.

As Khazura drew wordlessly closer, she noticed Khajiit runes on his back, akin to the same ones she has on her arm. A warning of hatred and anger, made out of retribution. She knew he had the same past she did.

"You took care of me…Even though…" Khazura started, but was unable to finish her sentence, holding back tears. She tried again.

"I'm so sorry, I should have regarded you as a friend and ally, rather than a bitter enemy out of hatred."

"I only ever wished to be your friend." He said, smiling at the sunrise. "Yes we have the same pasts, but it does not mean that we both cannot be friends."

"Let us leave our difficulties with each other in the past, and start anew." She smiled at him, and took his hand in hers. As they did so, the curses and seals written on their skin in their moments of darkness towards each other races ceased to exist, their runic glow vanishing forever. They both looked toward the east, where their lands lie, and a sun brings them the new hope of a new day.

Later that morning, the sun was higher in the sky, and the anchor was hauled up. Everyone was doing their best to help out, but Ashtar and Belwen kept Khazura below deck to rest, as not all the poison had left her system yet. She was still not strong enough to lend a hand in the ship operations. She wasn't entirely happy about this verdict, but Avery backed them up on it, so sulking, she went below to rest. It wasn't long after the sails were dropped that the wind picked up under them, and once again they were off into the west. Like Ashtar had said the previous day, the tones of the water were changing. Shore was near. Soon after they realized this they passed a shallow reef. Leon was at the helm, steering in between some small packs of rocks and shoals were becoming increasingly common, luckily both Ashtar and Avery were on lookout for these objects.

"What did the marking mean under the mountain again?" Leon asked, obviously meaning the map.

"Cave of the Argonian King, the Pilgrim's Bane." Ashtar answered. His thoughts too were on that monument, and what it could mean. Leon himself knew the king the marking was referring to. He was pondering the actual meaning of the marking, and who would be there to witness it, when Belwen, in the crow's nest, called out.

"Land ho!" She yelled.

Directly ahead, one could see a seemingly tiny landmass. It was very far away. This is the lost continent they were looking for. As cheers went up in the air, Leon noticed Khazura was standing behind him.

"You should be resting." He said.

"I've had enough rest. I wanted to see the land as well. If you don't get much view other than the sea for what feels like years, you'd want to as well."

Leon nodded at this, agreeing, and said nothing more.

The atmosphere on the ship turned from dreary and worried to as if the emperor himself threw a banquet for each of them. Khazura had later said that there was possibly no happier crew on the face of the world that day. Attention at the moment though turned to preparation to land and set up camp. They had the supplies to set up a few wooden huts, and a small fence around it. By dusk they had passed the outer ring of rocks and reefes, and landed just off shore.Using a barge, they brought many things over, including cooking utensils, food, the camp supplies, their weapons, armor and herbs. Leon had to cast a lightening spell on the barge, so it wouldn't sink with all of that stuff on it. Soon after they hit shore, they lit torches and set out to find a suitable site. Most of the area around them after the beach were plains, with spotted trees here and there. They began setting up the huts. Two of them took turns holding torches, while the other three began placing the wooden planks in the ground and putting up the roofs. It wasn't long until three stable huts, about 20 yards wide in diameter apiece, were built, and standing upright. They lit a short fire afterwards.

"A job well done." Avery congratulated them all.

"I'm glad it's all finished." Ashtar agreed.

"And we're finally here!" said Belwen. This provoked a pause between them all. They weren't exactly sure where 'here' was. Nor where they sure what it was.

"Speaking of 'here', what should we name this land?" Khazura inquired, looking around the fire for suggestions. Leon was busy with a piece of parchment, tracing his wand on it.

"What do you have there, Leon?" Avery asked, leaning over to see.

"The map of course, we're right here," He laid down the map in front of the fire's red glow, everyone saw that a ship and little hut icon had appeared on the map on the coast. "I used magic to find our location on this map. We are indeed here, also look at this, the name of this land is already inscribed on the map!" He jabbed his wand at a small ribbon at the bottom of the map. It read Tindriel.

"So it is!" Khazura exclaimed.

They all took turns looking at the map and discussing the various points of interest on the map, including a river just south of the camp. Avery called for everyone's attention.

"It's getting late, we should all get some rest before we decide what to do tomorrow." He suggested. All agreed. Leon handed him the map, but as Avery took it, Leon held onto it until everyone else had entered the huts.

"We don't know what's out there. I really think we should think this through. For all we know, Mythic Dawn members may already be here as well, not to mention unknown beasts and creatures that may lie here."

"I'm aware of what it means, old friend," Avery smiled weakly, "We have to follow through now, we can't turn back. Don't worry, everything will hold together, and we will reach this cave." Then, patting Leon on the back, he entered his own hut, while Leon extinquished the fire and went into the same one Ashtar resided in. The girls inhabited the third hut. He stopped short of the entrance though, turned around and surveyed the land around them in the moonlight. It was going to be interesting, nonetheless.

Soon after he left, eyes in the shadows watched this encampment, and then departed soon after.

The next morning, the sun was beginning to rise over the sea. Most everyone except Belwen and Avery were awake. Khazura went to go survey the land from a very high hill off to the north, about a couple miles from camp. Ashtar went to go find the river, and bring back water. Leon was making breakfast over a newly kindled campfire when Avery and Belwen awoke.

"Soup?" Avery yawned.

"Yes!" Leon grinned, "You should get used to it, it's what we'll be eating for the next month or two!"

"Haha, and what if we run out of ingredients?"

"Grass soup isn't all that bad you know."

Avery put on a look of mock distaste.

"Now now, that's not too healthy! Anyway, where are the others?"

"Well," Leon put down the ladel, trying to remember, "I do think that Khazura went north to find a hill and look around this place, while Ashtar went south to find that river."

"Hmm, when did they leave?"

"Before dawn."

"They should be back soon, if not now, in that case."

"I wonder if you're a wizard under all that armor, Avery." Leon grinned again.

"Why?"

"Because, here they come now!"

As if on command, both Ashtar and Khazura returned, Khazura with the map, and Ashtar carrying a backpack, which contained canteens filled with water. Khazura approached Avery on seeing him, while Ashtar distributed the canteens, and put the spare ones in the supply area of the campsite.

"The map checks out, everything is accurate as far as I can see. Marshes to the immiedeate north, while forests pocket the rest of the land, and the land far north. Northwest is probably the high point of Tindriel, a ring of mountains. Out far southwest there are lots of plains. If we were to travel I'd say we go by the river, despite the swampy area surrounding it." She explained.

"I see," Avery would have to give this info some thought. So the map was right after all, "Thank you for the information." To which Khazura bowed slightly, and went to help Belwen with crafting arrows.

The sun was casting its warm bright glow over the camp; Khazura and Belwen were crafting arrows and more quivers, while Leon and Ashtar debated over what to add in the soup for breakfast, which wasn't quite done yet. Avery was milling about outside of the camp, taking in the scenery. Everything was quite like what he saw back home. It wasn't radically different, but he noticed that the flowers and trees were different to a degree. The trees all had star-shaped leaves, while the flowers were in many different, very bright colors, including green, purple, red and yellow. Those bright colors aren't seen often unless you went deep into the foresty areas back home. Here, they were everywhere. What herbs were rare before, were abundant and plentiful here. The grass and flowers were up to his knees, and a soft wind blew from the sea. One could hear the gulls from here. The sun was just peeking over the blue horizon as well. It was a fantastic spot. Turning away from the sea, he looked to the northwest, and although a haze obstructed the view of the mountain range, and the huge spire, he knew it was there. Khazura could see these mountains. Most elven-like races can see far more than humans.Looking to the south, he saw the river that was inscribed on the map. From here, it looked like a blue string across the distant plains, yet he knew it was at least a mile wide.

"It's nice isn't it?" Rasped a voice behind him. Turning around, Avery saw it was Ashtar.

"Yeah," He sighed. Sitting down in the tall grass, the sun's warmth and wind's breeze made this place feel as if no troubles in the world could reach him, "It's not often I enjoy the countryside back home."

"You're right," Ash said, sitting down next to him, crossing his arms thoughtfully, "I'm not used to trees and floweres, except when I harvest them…But this, this is nice. Makes you think that we have all the time in the world to go face the rest of this land."

Avery wordlessly nodded, his thoughts shared. A bell sounded from down in the camp, Leon calling the others for breakfast. Discussion was hot around the campfire, debating on what to do, but Leon and Ashtar had their own debate, which was amusing the others.

"I still think venison would have made this taste better." Ashtar commented.

"I still think you're wrong!" Leon said through a mouthful of soup.

"Using chicken meat isn't the same though…" Ashtar mumbled as he began eating. The others laughed.

"You silly alchemists and your food ingredients." Belwen teased. Leon threw her a look of sarcasm.

"So, what do we do now that we're here, Avery?" Khazura asked him. To this, Avery sighed.

"I'm not sure yet. Clearly this land exists, but where else to go but northwest, to the mountain," Saying this, Avery watched Ashtar's expression, which seemed to be focusing on his bowl of soup, "the mountain of the Argonian King, the Pilgrim's Bane."

Ash looked up, looked as though he wanted to say something, and then thought the better of it. He gave Belwen a meaningful glance, which she returned. Avery wondered what it meant.

The sun was nearing its highest point in the sky. Ash glanced around the camp. The others were on the other side of it, discussing plans, while Belwen was practicing her aim with some throwing stars on a dartboard, made out of some spare hut planks, and painted with dyes from the local flowers. Ashtar pulled up a seat, sat down, and watched her hit the centermost marks wit hthe throwing stars. He clasped his scaled hands before his face and stared off into the distance, thinking. Soon afterwards, he got up and went to pull some of the throwing stars out of the dartboard.

"What if I miss and hit your hand?" Belwen said blankly, her eyes on the dartboard. Ashtar only smiled.

"You don't miss."

"Are you sure?"

Frowning slightly, he reached toward, and then his other hand shot out, finger pointing outward. A throwing star she had just thrown at his hand was now hooking around his finger. He smiled, and twirled it around in his hand, while taking the others out, and tossing them back into the box where she was picking them up to throw. Her expression changed from slight surprise, to worry. She sat down on the seat by the dartboard, the opposite side of where Ashtar was leaning.

"I don't know about this, Ash, it doesn't feel good."

"I know what you mean," Ashtar said while his gaze drifted to where the others were. Leon and Avery were still there, while Khazura was no where to be seen, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"I suspected that," She said, mopping off her sweat with a towel, then paused and looked at him, "But there's something more to it with you…What's really wrong, Ash?"

"It doesn't feel right. The inscripture…The legends say that the tomb of the Argonian King is supposed to be so heavily protected, not even an army can get to it."

"Protected by what?"

"Demons, fairies, beasts, zombies, skeletons, ghosts…Everything you can think of."

"It's only a legend, you know," She began, but Ashtar shot her a look, a look of fear.

"I know Belwen, but something doesn't FEEL right. I can feel it in my soul, in the roots of the earth. I did a spell with a potion. It didn't reveal good things…" He looked away, towards the ground again.

Silence followed between the two. Belwen threw the throwing star she had in her hand, at the dirt below.

"Damnit, Ash, why don't you tell Avery this?" She demanded with a tone of anger rising in her voice.

"…I didn't think that he would listen."

"Why not?"

"Because, he's too gung ho, I don't think he can fully comprehend what could be there."

"That's why you're here, to help and assist in this endeavour!"

"Yes, but, alright fine, have a look at this," With that, he produced an emerald green bottle from his blue robes. Drawing a circle in the sand, and some runes around the edges, he let five drops fall from the small bottle's tip. Chanting a few well chosen words, images rose up; A tall mountain with clouds surrounding the summet, almost magically; A cave at the foot of the mountain; Moving objects inside; The smoke from the incantion takes the form of a skull, while four undiscernable figures surround it; a huge monster; then four more skulls, at the foot of one more figure. Ashtar rose as the last image faded, and put the emerald bottle back into his robes' pocket. Belwen was staring at the spot where the skulls had been.

"Ash…Could that first skull, with the four figures surrounding it mean…" Her voice trailed off in horror at the thought.

"Yes, it implies a death. One of us, most likely," He replied. A blank look was in his eyes, "I don't like what the last image looks like." He fell silent, and sat back down. His eyes shifted to the left, and his tail twitched.

Belwen looked up just in time to see Ashtar make a throwing gesture towards the side of a hut. The throwing star hit the very edge of the hut, where Khazura walked out, apparently eavesdropping. Belwen regarded her with contempt. Ashtar simply got up and walked off towards the sea. Khazura took a look at Belwen and ran after him.

"Ash, please don't be mad." She pleaded after catching alongside Ashtar, who was now walking fast.

"Why shouldn't I be? If you wanted to know what was going on, there was no need to eavesdrop!" Ashtar's voice had notes of fury in it.

"I'm sorry; it really seemed to me like you were planning something behind our backs!" She stopped dead and crossed her arms. Ashtar walked on a few paces and wheeled around on his heel.

"Yeah, it **seemed **that way to you." Ash turned and continued walking out along the beach.

Khazura walked back to to the campfire, sat down and put her head in her hands. She didn't want it to be pushed that far. Why didn't she trust them? Why didn't she trust **him**? He must think I didn't mean what I said before, she thought to herself. When she had finished this thought, Belwen sat down beside her.

"You know, Ash can be mistrusting at times." Belwen said, trying to start a conversation.

"Those images…I don't like the sound of them." Khazura said softly, staring at the embers.

"No, they didn't sound good…Bot good at all."

Khazura didn't reply, only stared at the embers. Belwen got up and left. She later noted to herself that the look she saw on Khazura's face was a look of deep sadness; she probably had felt like she had betrayed her friend's trust. Khazura's thoughts though, were not only that, but the skull image she heard about. Would it come down to hesitation if someone died? Would it be her? What if it actually did happen and it was her fault? These questions plauged her mind and she tried desperately to make sense of everything, and find answers to it all. Frustrated, confused, and sad, she retired to her hut for the remainder of the day.

Later on that evening and night, Ashtar and Belwen had a fight. Belwen and Ashtar were yelling at each other, she was calling him selfish and hurtful towards the others, while he yelled back, telling her to get off his back, that Khazura shouldn't have eavesdropped and betrayed his trust.

Needless to say, this made dinner around the camp a very depressing time, due to the mood of three out of five. Leon and Avery tried to encourage them to make up with each other, and then decided to let things be. Khazura's eyes were like ones of a soulless creature. Belwen and Ashtar wouldn't even look at each other the entire time. It was times like this that made Avery wonder if they're really cut out for this.

Later that night, before everyone went to bed, Avery tried to talk to Khazura about what happened.

"I don't want to talk about it. Let's just get some sleep, okay?" She retorted with some annoyance when Avery asked her. Frustrated with being kept out of the loop, he tried both Belwen and Ashtar next and got basically the same reply. He turned to Leon, who was the only other one awake now.

"What's going on with everyone?" He hissed in the darkness, the camp only illuminated by the burning embers of the campfire and the waxing moon overhead, "It's like they've all seen visions of doom and hate each other now."

"From what I gather, that's pretty much what's happened." Leon replied slowly, watching Avery's expression.

"Whatever," Avery threw his hands up in defeat. Whatever the hell was going on, he had no say in it. Apparently all that was left to do was wait until everyone made up with each other now, "I'm going to bed. Maybe everyone will be in a better mood tomorrow." Turning, he went into his hut, threw down his backpack, and dropped down onto the hanging bed. Truth was, he wasn't sure himself if everyone would be in a better mood. Troubled by talk of skull images, yelling matches, resentment towards each other, and people flat out losing it, he went into a fretful sleep, troubled by dreams of what the next day could be.


End file.
